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Tabi'atstani Civil War
The Tabi'atstani Civil War was a multiparty war fought in Tabi'atstan after the chaos of successive communist uprisings. Foreign armies (most notably the Allied Armies) were also involved, and fought on the side of the loyalist and royalist troops. The Revolutionary Army of the Tabi'atstani People (commonly known as the People's Army) defeated Baig Mashriya Zadaei Jahanbani's troops on the 12th February 1925 at Payegar, with the remnants of royalist insurgents being wiped out by July of the same year. Background As of the early 20th century, Tabi'atstan was made up of several self proclaimed empires, though most were extremely weak and few of them had any real regional power. The most powerful were mostly the same that existed many centuries ago; the Grand Monarchy of Kazemostan, the Ardaristani Empire and also the relatively new Altani-Bajiristan Confederation. This situation made the nation prone to revolution, as the empires were mostly run by tyrannical rulers and were starting to grow weak from war between each other and with foreign nations. As such, on the 12th June 1923, communist revolutionaries led by Leonid Ushakov and Farshid Khorasani rose up against the government of the Grand Monarchy of Kazemostan, seized the opportunity amidst the chaos and confusion and took over the capital city. They then captured the Royal Palace of Kazemostan and the airfield nearby. Shahanshah Armand Shahin Nabavi attempted to negotiate with the revolutionaries, and suggested that he could create an advisory council to represent the people. However, the uprisings spread, and Shah Nabavi attempted to escape the capital. On the 14th June 1923, he was captured by some of his own troops, who, fed up with bad treatment from high-ranking officers, beheaded him. When the news reached them in the morning of the 15th June 1923, Ushakov and Khorasani proclaimed the founding of the Kazemostani Soviet Federative Socialist Republic (Kazemostani SFSR). Warfare Almost three weeks after the Tabi'atstani Revolution, on the 29th June 1923, supporters of the communist revolution sparked the Bahaduran Uprising in the Jangalstan region of the Ardaristani Empire. Even though the capital of the empire, Qal'eh Nezama, was hundreds of miles away from the city of Bahaduran, Shahanshah Afshin Kasra Najafi III, fearing for his safety, fled the capital and boarded a plane to Melanomesto in the TBRE. However, shortly after taking off, the plane was caught in a sandstorm and crashed near Bandar Kaneer, killing the Shahanshah. The death of the Shahanshah seriously destabilized the Ardaristani Empire, although the empire had been struggling with many other problems to begin with. For example, the empire made use of regional armies that were composed of men from the same provinces which were typically more loyal to their commanding officers than to the imperial government. This resulted in regionalist tendencies and a strong level of animosity between different armies. As such, the death of Shahanshah Afshin Kasra Najafi III resulted in the collapse of the Ardaristani Empire and the rise of smaller fiefdoms led by warlords. The communists founded the Jangalstan Soviet Republic, but numerous other factions sprung up. Marshal Ahran Halla Ebrahimi ruled the Dargaz Clique, Warlord Fari Allar Nariman took control of the Qazva-Hormozstan Federation, Baig (Commander) Mashriya Zadaei Jahanbani declared himself leader of the Southern Tabi'atstan Clique, and Shahzada Fereydoun Roshan Najafi led the new Resurgent Empire from the former capital of Qal'eh Nezama. War between the rival factions soon ensued. On the 7th October 1923, a group of about 32,000 communist protesters gathered outside the imperial palace in the city of Daryashehr, capital of the Altani-Bajiristani Confederation. Regent Parvaiz Shahjahan Farahani ordered his troops to shoot at the protesters. As such, chaos ensued as some of the protesters attempted to flee, whilst a small number attempted to charge at the imperial soldiers. It is uncertain how many were killed, although it is generally accepted that around 1,200 were either shot by government troops or trampled by other protesters attempting to escape. The next day on the 8th October 1923, Governor Ayehzah Meshkia Naceri of the Biyabun-e Markaz province of the Altani-Bajiristani Confederation was killed when communist rebels entered his government offices and pushed him out of a third storey window. They then announced the creation of the Altani-Bajiristani Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic (Altani-Bajiristani ASSR), which was based in the city of Vardana. As such, on the 11th October 1923, the governors of Kermeyb and Altanstan provinces announced the incorporation of their provinces into the Altani-Bajiristani ASSR, and on the 15th October 1923, the governor of the Kalengelsk province did the same. Noting that he could no longer hold on to power, Regent Parvaiz Shahjahan Farahani abdicated from his throne and handed power to Dara Zayni Khalaji, the leader of the rebels. Throughout the fighting, the Allied powers of World War I had kept a watchful eye on the situation in Tabi'atstan, and in the Autumn of 1923, British, French, Japanese and American troops landed on the shores of what is now the Southern Tabi'atstan province, with the total intervention force amounting to 23,494 troops from the various different interventionist nations. However, they were not as committed to intervening in Tabi'atstani affairs as they were in Russia between 1918 to 1920. On the 10th January 1924 rebels in the Kassefid Emirate assassinated Emir Arastoo Parwiz Mirzaei and the rest of the royal family. The royal family of the Emirate was on a train returning them from Luran to the royal palaces at Khatamshahr when communist insurgents bombed the train line and derailed the royal train. The rebels then captured the royal family, had them stand in a line, and then shot them, after which they then started their triumphal march to the capital of the Emirate. On the morning of the 11th January 1924, communist forces entered the city of Khatamshahr, where they were met by hundreds of grateful citizens celebrating the end of the monarchy in the streets. The leader of the rebels, Fazli Amim Mazanderani, announced the formation of the Transkassefid Soviet Federative Socialist Republic (Transkassefid SFSR). On the 16th February 1924, troops of Warlord Fari Allar Nariman's Qazva-Hormozstan Federation captured the city of Berfan, formerly held by the Jangalstan Soviet Republic. Instead of attempting to take on Warlord Nariman's troops head on, the communists retreated further and further into their territory, allowing Nariman's troops to capture much land with ease. However, unknown to Nariman, it was actually a communist plot to force him to overstretch his supply lines. Nariman took the bait, and communist forces encircled the majority of his forces near the town of Saqqazv. Capitalizing on their successes, Jangalstani troops moved into and captured the rest of Nariman's small fiefdom, and by the 2nd April 1924, Nariman's capital, Shushtavar had been captured. The communist forces then set up fortifications along the border with the Southern Tabi'atstan Clique, and renamed their republic the West Tabi'atstan Soviet Socialist Republic (West Tabi'atstan SSR). In the morning of the 23rd September 1924, troops from the Kazemostani SFSR, the Transkassefid SFSR, the Altani-Bajiristani ASSR and the West Tabi'atstan SSR launched a joint attack against the Southern Tabi'atstani Clique. Transkassefid forces took the border city of Bahramshahr with ease as its garrison surrendered on the sight of armed men entering the city whilst Altani-Bajiristani and West Tabi'atstani troops reached the outskirts of Fekhershahr and Batelaqshahr in the evening of the 27th September 1924. However, on the 28th September 1924, Transkassefid forces arriving at the coastal city of Payegar found themselves under heavy fire from the sea. Two American warships based at Karzhag Island bombarded the communist troops while British Mark V tanks blasted away any remaining resistance. These actions thus began the siege of Payegar. Communist forces at Fekhershahr and Batelaqshahr also met strong resistance from foreign interventionist troops, although interventionist forces here were not backed by large numbers of tanks. On the 1st October 1924, interventionist forces had pushed communist troops back 43 miles away from the city of Payegar. It was at this point that Leonid Ushakov had 14 of the 21 planes of the former Kazemostani air force moved to the newly captured city of Bahramshahr. Frontline troops at Payegar then built makeshift runways which the planes could then take off and land on. On the 6th October 1924, the squadron of planes flew their first sortie against a group of 18 Mark V tanks attempting to breach trenches that communist forces had set up outside the city. Of the 18 tanks, eight were taken out by bombs dropped by the communists' Breguet 14 bombers, two were ditched in trenches and four were taken out by artillery fire. Three more tanks succumbed to mechanical problems and were captured by Transkassefid soldiers. Only one of the communist aircraft was taken out when a British machine gun nest fired upon the squadron when it attempted a strafing run against Allied interventionist forces. On the 7th October 1924, communist land forces supported by the Tabi'atstani destroyer Engels took the city of Batelaqshahr. On the 12th October 1924, communist troops entering Fekhershahr were met by what appeared to be surrendering Japanese forces. The Japanese troops then suddenly drew their swords and small arms and attempted a human wave attack against the communist forces. The West Tabi'atstani and Altani-Bajiristani troops entering the city were initially shocked by this sudden attack, but then recomposed themselves and were able to repulse the Japanese attack, thus taking the city. By this time, the communist forces had taken most of inland South Tabi'atstan, although the Southern Tabi'atstan Clique and the interventionist forces still held the strategic coastal cities of Payegar, Kordkou and Limushahr. In a fit of rage, Baig Jahanbani shot his best military commander, Major General Bahmi Iqil Abedini and injured a nearby British military officer. The British, fed up with constant communist advances, unleashed their Vickers Vimy bomber aircraft upon communist cities. The first bombing raid occurred on the 17th October 1924 in Batelaqshahr which resulted in a firestorm when several bombs hit an oil storage tank in the city's docks. However, instead of demoralising communist forces, it drew even more people towards the communist cause, as they saw Baig Jahanbani as a puppet of foreign forces attempting to conquer Tabi'atstan. On the 26th October 1924, communist forces backed by naval warships from Batelaqshahr reached Limushahr and began laying siege to the city. Worried about a possible communist victory, US President Calvin Coolidge ordered the two American Wickes-class destroyers stationed at Payegar to sail to Limushahr to reinforce interventionist forces there. In the early hours of the 30th October 1924, the lookout of the communist destroyer Engels sighted the two Wickes-class destroyers approaching Limushahr. The Engels then proceeded to fire a barrage of cannon shells at the American warships and called in two more Fidonisy class destroyers as reinforcements, thus starting the battle of Anjad Harbour. After about an hour of exchanging cannon fire, neither side had sustained any serious damage. However, at around 6:10AM, the deck of one of the American destroyers suddenly caught fire after a cannon ignited a spilled can of fuel oil. The American ships then quickly retreated back towards Payegar. On the 10th December 1924, communist forces took the city of Limushahr. Soon afterwards, on the 18th December 1924, the Allied interventionist forces announced their retreat from Tabi’atstan, with Allied troops boarding cargo ships at the city of Kordkou to head back to their respective home countries. However, Baig Jahanbani announced that he would not surrender to communist forces, and on the 21st December 1924, he ordered his troops to abandon Kordkou and turn Payegar into a fortified city. Seeing that Baig Jahanbani would not be able to hold off the communist troops for much longer, and faced with communist revolutionaries at home, Emperor ... of the Empire of Great Liaoting abdicated the throne on the 28th December 1924 and passed power on to Chairman ... of the Communist Party of Liaoting, who on the 29th proclaimed the formation of the Liaoting Soviet Republic. On the 12th February 1925, communist forces finally captured the city of Payegar. When Baig Mashriya Zadaei Jahanbani attempted to escape via a boat, communist troops shot him whilst he was running towards the docks where some of his troops had secured transport to take him to Grenatia in the TBRE. Although sporadic fighting continued across Tabi'atstan, the capture of Payegar signified the end of the Tabi'atstani Civil War, and the beginning of a new era of peace. Aftermath Casualties The death toll of the Tabi'atstani Civil War was catastrophic. It is widely believed that at least 1,290,000 men of the People's Army died, whilst the cost of life in the loyalist ranks is thought to have been in the range of 1,700,000 men. Reasons for communist victory The various monarchies alienated the peasants through their high levels of conscription and requisitioning of peasants' property, such as horses and food. Many of the monarchies were also in deep economic crises, having severely mismanaged their economies. The Grand Monarchy of Kazemostan had helped fuel hyperinflation by printing vast quantities of paper money to help support its war effort against the Ardaristani Empire in 1920. Due to the war, both Kazemostan and Ardaristan had lost many of their best troops, leaving poorly trained conscripts with low morale to fight the communist insurrection. Discipline in the royalist armies was brutal, and desertion rates were high, in some armies reaching 70% a year. Although the Allied forces of WWI did provide support to Baig Mashriya Zadaei Jahanbani, this support soon wavered as the Allies did not want to become bogged down in another long war. By late 1924, when the allied forces realised that that Jahanbani was in serious danger of losing the fight against the communists, they left rather than stayed behind to help him as they also recognised that he was a lost cause and would not be able to maintain a stable government even if he was able to regain the majority of his lost territory. Rather than split into regional factions, the communists decided at the First Communist Tabi’atstani Congress to unite under Ushakov and the Kazemostani Communist Party. On the other hand, the loyalist, royalist and warlord factions remained separate of each other, and often fought against each other as well, making it easier for the communists to divide and conquer them. Corruption was also a rampant problem in the royalist armies, with a lot of arms and supplies being sold on the black market by royalist generals and officials (an incident was recorded where an officer of the Southern Tabi'atstan Clique attempted to sell a tank to local villagers as scrap metal), leading many people to think of them as nothing more than war profiteers. The royalists and other factions had poor relations with intellectuals and students, as they had been oppressed by the various monarchies prior to the civil war. However, Ushakov was able to get a level of support from students and scholars by sending his second-in-command, Farshid Khorosani to negotiate with them. During these meetings, Khorosani promised that the communists would hold elections after the civil war, and that rights such as freedom of speech and freedom of the press would be respected (although none of these promises were later kept). Ushakov also did not meddle in military affairs, leaving command of the People's Army to able generals such as NAME. Arguably the most important factor that led to their victory was the fact that the communist party gained support from the lower classes. Many of the NUMBER members of the various communist parties in Tabi'atstan were industrial workers from major cities, although after the start of civil war, many peasants also joined the communist parties due to their support of the communists' views on land reform. Ushakov was also flexible on the subject of land reform, and at first only the richest and most exploitative landlords had their land confiscated (it was not until the consolidation of communist power in the USSRT that richer peasants also had their property confiscated). See also *Kazemostani Communist Revolution Category:Tabi'atstan